How consumer conversation will change business using Social Marketing Intelligence

Prive Waterhouse Coopers have published a report How consumer conversation will change business

One consumer voice can morph into a community in minutes. Are you listening?

They say - The speed and scale of consumer conversations can redirect entire markets - is the argument

Imagine it’s seven o’clock on a Monday morning. You turn on your computer. On the screen is a startling level of insight into the real-time attitudes, behaviors, and intentions of your consumers. By knowing why people buy, you know where markets are going. This insight informs every decision you make as an organization. Every hour of every day, you are able to solve performance problems before they become financial problems, and your customers help you innovate well in advance of demand. This Monday morning is coming. In billions of chats, blogs, emails, phone calls, and social networks, consumers are talking about your business. Somewhere in this massive conversation are shouts and whispers that will determine your success or failure.

It called Social Marketing Intelligence The report goes onto predict

For the first time, methodologies and technologies exist that can interpret unfiltered, real-time consumer conversations. These dialogues contain a granular, forward-looking understanding of consumer attitudes, needs, and behaviors. And they can be combined with other existing behavioral and transactional information (such as Web surfing patterns and point-of-sale data) to create a completely new and previously unattainable view of your markets. To realize this potential, companies need to do more than collect and analyze data. Maximizing the value of consumer conversation is a matter of organizational as well as technological change.

And

Adjusting to these new methodologies and technologies will require time, trial, and investment, but the benefits will be absolutely enormous. Companies can already use real-time consumer feedback to improve products, sales targeting, segmentation, customer service, and crisis management. Those that merge disparate channels of consumer data and embed them into operations will also discover the missing
inks between buying history and buying intention. Executives will hear consumers whispering about new and expanded markets and react to these shifts “ahead of the curve,” realizing faster sales growth, reduced risk, more efficiency, and higher customer retention.

SMLXL has been involved in some large customer trials recently and we see a 20% decrease in churn by using Social Marketing Inteliigence - wiki

PwC also mention the 100 fold increase in connectivity that with fuel the explosion of networked conversation and interaction

In the next five years, there will be an explosion of global conversation in developing countries. The biggest gains in both social networking and blog use are likely to occur in Brazil, China, India, and Mexico. 2 Our own research, both in the US and developing countries, corroborates this point, and we have seen a definite trend over the last several years wherein social and interactive media have taken on increased significance in the lives of consumers.

Xtract say that 65-70% of all purchase decisions are influenced by word of mouth

Consumer opinions are the most trusted source: In Taiwan, Jason Lai, a 25-year-old engineer, says, “I am a big fan of checking out feedback on products before I purchase them. I find consumer opinions more reliable than ads.”

As a consequence Marketing capability will be transformed aligning IT with the business’ is yesterday’s challenge said Information Week, and that, aligning IT meticulously with external and internal customers’ needs…is now the end game for the most astute companies.

Bill Bailey is a comedian and he is asked how he comes up with his jokes? Bill says I start with a laugh and work backwards. In the same way companies need to be customer centric and Engagement sits at the very heart of that process.

Bookmark to: